Talk to DP Forum

Chloe

can you make more books?

July 1, 2018

I am Chloe and I am eight. I love your books. Could you please make more? If you could, then please do. I just read Lizard Music. I liked the Chicken Man and Victor. I can imagine how cute the baby chick would be if I was there.

Love,

Chloe

Daniel replies:

Hello, Chloe! As a matter of fact, I was just thinking about what book I might write. I had forgotten all about the baby chick. Thanks for your suggestion. I will go back to thinking now.

Elizabeth

Just Thank You

July 1, 2018

We recently signed out Bear and Bunny from the library. I just want to say thank you. I wish you could hear my 5 year old giggle and laugh through the ENTIRE book. Such a sweet, funny, and memorable story. I love that I can share the amusement with her.

Daniel replies:

What could be cooler than a message like this? I think it must be sort of interesting how an adult person, such as myself, has been able to write stories that a five-year-old will find funny, but people seldom bring up the subject, or ask a question. I'm going to assume that someone reading this is curious about how I do it, and I will try to explain it now. When I was small, my father and his brother were home-movie enthusiasts, so I inherited several reels of film showing me as a little kid, doing somersaults, jumping around in my footie pajamas, all the usual things people film their kids doing. But what I was able to notice, I can't explain how, was that I had a sense of humor when I was five. It was the same sense of humor I was going to have for the rest of my life. As a little kid I had a much narrower frame of reference, but what struck me funny then would strike me funny now. Knowing that, and believing it's probably true for everyone, is how I am able to write funny books for little kids. People who think kids will laugh at things adults wouldn't find funny usually miss the mark.

Roger Parazaider

Retired 5th grade teacher, long time fan

June 25, 2018

Hello,

I am a retired fifth grade teacher from Geneva, IL, and I grew up in Chicago during the same time you grew up in Chicago. My fifth grade class wrote to you in the 70’s and I read your books to all of my classroom students in the 45 years I taught. You very kindly responded to the class (Harrison Street Elementary School in Geneva, IL) that wrote to you, on a flattened White Castle hamburger cardboard carton, with food stains adorning the exterior. The kids and I got a big kick out of the hamburger carton with your response, and we diaplayed it all year on the classroom bulletin board. ( I still have that White Castle hamburger carton with your response written on it, in my many boxes of memorabilia!)

At a reading conference in the 1970’s (more than 500 people attended this conference) ,,,,the husband and wife team presenting the conference asked a trivia question, reading a quote from one of your books, and asked aloud if anyone knew the author of the quote. I knew right away that you wrote this line in one of your books, and answered the trivia question stating “the author is D. Pinkwater!!!” The presenters were astounded that anyone knew the author, in fact in the twenty years they did this conference circuit, they had never had anyone answer at all!!!!

I want to sincerely thank you for all the books you have written and let you know the impact they had on all of my students. I am also a fan of your creative writing style, and you and I are on the same wavelength as far as using imagination to reach and interest children, and get them sincerely interested in books.

From one Sargeant Schwartz fan to another,

Roger Parazaider

Daniel replies:

Isn't it wonderful that the reading conference presenters offered a quote from a book of mine as a trivia question, and FOR TWENTY years nobody recognized it, and they were astonished when you did....and yet I have had a career, paid my bills, hear from excellent readers who like my books? I have gotten to like the idea that only a few, only the best, readers have ever heard of me.

Jim Huffman

Chicken Man & Others

June 17, 2018

Dear Mr Pinkwater

I am an avid reader/visitor to your web site. Enjoy reading the many posts from your fans or readers. I am from your neighborhood, attended Nettlehorst aprox from the 3rd to the 7th grade, 1947 to 1952. Lived at 3162 Cambridge during those years. While attending Lane Tech, lived at 509 Roscoe, 1954 to 1958 and also afterwards to 1970, 735 Buckingham, 715 Barry & 430 Diversey.

I know this neighborhood so very well, so I enjoy the many reminisces that you & your writers wrote about. I would like to add some to the the many stories. The teacher Mr. Petrucci was the gym teacher when I was there, military veteran, also ran the safety patrol. Mr Block was the Principal, also Ms Aronson , Ms West & Ms Bloom were some of the teachers. The Gyp shop owned by the Richman’s to me was a decent store, I never heard of it being called by that name. I actually felt sorry for them. They were nice people, but a little strange, their products were reasonably priced. The Chicken Man, I first saw on a Broadway streetcar (the older Red cars) in 1945, going south from Lawrence Av. He laid his hat on the floor for tips, which my mother always contributed. Simon’s drugs were owned by three brothers. They were nice guys, knew me & my mother by our names. In 1960, I actually dated one of their cashiers, Holly, for a while. In the early 60s, they were robbed, & one of the brothers died from it, the store then was closed & sold. Outside on the corner was the old newspaper shack with its kerosene lamp inside & a small potbelly stove for heat. A little window would open, place your nickle and a gnarled hand would snatch it & a newspaper would be pushed out of the window, & would close fast. Dewes hardware had or could order everything you needed, they had another location south of Belmont. Eddies was were all the kids went for candy & comic books & had a soda counter as did Scotts 5 & 10, Walgreens, Pape’s drugs, & a slew of other drug stores also. The school safety patrol had three “groups”. South, West & North. We would march back & meet in front in the AM. And PM vs vs. The south group had about 12 or so boys, west about 3-boys & the north about 6-boys. I was assigned to Belmont & Broadway, NE to the SE corner. A cop & one boy were assigned to the Broadway crossing at Melrose. A Heinermann’s bakery on the SE corner, my Angel food birthday cakes came from there. The kids I hung out with were from both Nettlehorst & Mt Carmel. Jewish & Catholic, I never knew of any bigotry or prejudice. We, on our bikes, went everywhere, and in winter on streetcars or double deck buses. On nice days, we rode our bikes from the Loop to Howard to the forest preserves at Cumberland. We all went to the theaters that had the movies we wanted to see. Lake Shore, Essex, Julian, Vic, Buckingham, Mode, Music Box, Century, Parkway, Covent, Belmont, Riviera, Uptown. The Julian would make us check our cap guns on Saturday features of old B-grade movies, cartoons & serials. My first date at 12-yrs, with Judith Ex, was to the Uptown on a streetcar. During the summer we were at the beach, or riding thru Lincoln Park. During the non-beach months, the Swedish Social Club on Wilton near Belmont, allowed us to use their very big indoor swimming pool. Or we would go to a pool in the bldg on the NE corner of Broadway & Diversey. Another indoor pool was in the New Lawrence Hotel on Lawrence & Sheridan. The many stores along Broadway, many were kosher, a poultry, fish, meat, grocery, hardware, dime, many drug, taverns, bakery, shoe repair, etc on & on. Some of the Nettlehorst names: Stuart Glickman, Phillip Fischheimer, Alan Girsh, Norman Dupont, Enos Curtis, Stanley Ostroff, Berny Burlowitz, Charles Kapland, Helen Augenlich, Emma Scori, Judy Ex, Martha Dow, Joann Nelson, David Larson, Johnnie Reimer, Harry Altman, Pinhead Swanson, Arthur Cook, Billy Rojas. In you class photo, I know some of those kids.

Daniel replies:

What a great post! Your memory is excellent, and your depiction of the old neighborhood gives me a lot of pleasure. I suppose that's because it confirms that the old scenes, names and faces really existed. In so many ways those memories are the most vivid and detailed, including as they do, some of the earliest ones. I hope some of the visitors to this website who were not lucky enough to live on Roscoe Street will enjoy your nice bit of writing.

Rhi

Comment of Thanks

June 15, 2018

Thank you!

Your book was my fave from when I was about 4 years old. At that age, I loved the pictures and the lyrical prose. And even then had the underlying appreciation that could not be articulated s of the power of being your own person and not giving a …care.

I read your book so many times a day as a kid that it became an organic background voice of authority in my head that I took for granted. Always promoting my personal style of me, and reminding me to respect that in others.

Did not realise the impact of your book until I recently purchased “my favourite childhood book” (ok, pre Roald Dahl reading fave, but that is not shabby company!) to share with my 4 year old mini-me. The messages I take from it are just as powerfull to me as an adult, and exactly what I want to instil in her.

Funnily too, I do now have a career making peoples homes exactly represent them + who they are!!!

Thank you for improving my life in such a positive way. I so appreciate you writing your amazing book, and it finding me (twice!) at the exact moment I needed it. As all the truly brilliant books do.

No reply needed. This is a pure fangirl gratitude email.

Thanks,

Rhiannon

Australia

Daniel replies:

I'm guessing these gratifying remarks have to do with The Big Orange Splot.

DANIEL BAIG

Leonard never (?) sees Alan again — or does he?

May 20, 2018

Hi Mr. Pinkwater!

My question is about Alan Mendelsohn, The Boy From Mars.

The first sentence of Chapter 44 is, “I never saw Alan Mendelsohn again.” (Which of course is very sad.)

But at the very end of the book, Leonard receives an invitation from Alan to spend summer vacation with him in “The Bronx” a.k.a Mars, conditional on it being OK with Leonard’s parents.

So does the 1st sentence of Chap. 44 mean that Leonard doesn’t accept Alan’s invitation — which is hard to believe, unless his parents put the kibosh on the plan for some reason — ?

Or should we take it that Leonard “wrote” [narrates] Chapter 44 prematurely — i.e., BEFORE the end of the story (the end of Chapter 46) has happened?

I’d apologize for asking you something like this about a book you wrote 40 years ago — except that it’s proof that your work is still being happily read 40 years after you wrote it, which has to be nice for an author to know!

Thanks much,

Daniel

Daniel replies:

It IS nice to know! As to whether Leonard ever saw Alan again, the text is unclear. Maybe it was intentional, I don't remember, nor do I know whose intention. Maybe it was an editorial inconsistency. At this point, the book has left my hands and is more or less in the hands of the readers. You are a reader. So, the answer is up to you. Thanks for reading.

Liz Hagan

Peanut butter dog cookies?

May 20, 2018

Did you ever publish the recipe for Ms. Jill’s cookies? Say should we have a recalcitrant Dane who can’t be motivated by food?

Thanks,

Liz

Daniel replies:

I don't recall there being a recipe of Jill's for cookies for dogs. I will ask. Some dogs, (most really), are motivated by food, but some aren't. There are dogs motivated by toys, by praise, and...I don't know...possibly singing, possibly promises of concert tickets or certificates of deposit. You have to experiment and see what a particular dog likes.

Anita

When you are sick?

May 11, 2018

what do you like to do when you are sick? I right now have the flu and I am borde.

SEND HELP!!!!!!!!!

Ana Zitzer

Daniel replies:

I had the flu not long ago. I drank lots of liquid, especially things like fruit juice. And I took naps! Naps are wonderful anyway, but they are really nice when you are sick. You can listen to nice music and nap at the same time. Do not try to dance, just nap. I will not say I liked the flu, but I liked the fruit juice and naps.

James Yasha Cunningham

Welcome to Earth — Here’s Your Wuggie Norple Story

May 5, 2018

A few decades ago, my friend Scott (may he rest in peace) turned me on to your work. He loved your novels, but one picture book, The Wuggie Norple Story, had a special place in his heart.

I soon bought a copy for myself and thereafter, whenever I was invited to a baby shower, my gift was always a copy of The Wuggie Norple Story. I felt that every child should have be able to grow up with that book. Exploding Poptart!

But then one day, shopping for a baby shower, I was unable to find a copy, so I wrapped up my own copy as a gift. And then after that, I was unable to find any more copies in the city of Seattle. (This was back in the days when there were book stores.) Somehow, it had gone out of print and I cursed myself for not buying a case of them when I had the opportunity.

I wish all your books could stay in print and you probably do, too. But I especially despair that Wuggie Norple may be gone forever and that it will be missing from the lives of future generations of children and the adults reading to them. Why can’t the government step in to right this wrong? Why can’t there be a fresh copy waiting at the maternity ward for each new child appearing on our planet? Laughing Gas Alligator!

Daniel replies:

I've been peripherally involved with the publishing industry for about 50 years. Not deeply or directly involved, I write stuff, they buy rights to it and print books, it's a nice arrangement. But I do not pretend to understand how this business works. Books come out, lots of books, every year, too many books, then some disappear, but do they really? You can't find The Wuggie Norple Story, and nominally it's out of print, but I assure you there are copies, and numbers of copies, and large boxes full of brand-new copies floating around. A jobber in Toronto may have some, or they're lost in a warehouse somewhere, or individual copies are stocked by Cattermole 21st Century Children's Books, or some other specialist dealer, or there are used copies for sale on Ebay. I would tell you more, but then I'd have to continue to think about how business is conducted in our great land, and I don't want to do that.

Mike Arsenault

How can I get?

May 2, 2018

I was first introduced to you in the 1980’s with an Audio recording of ‘Fishwhistle’. I became obsessed with it and as a result, I wore out several cassettes. I’ve been searching high and low for another copy, but alas, in this part of the world, not many seem to know of it. How can I get an UNABRIDGED download? I will gladly make a generous contribution to get one. Don’t let me down Pinky!